Royals’ assistant manager is looking forward to welcoming Bertrand back to Berkshire with his new club Forest.

The England Under-21 international joined Billy Davies’ side on a six-month loan deal from Chelsea this summer and will make a swift return to the stadium where he came third in the player-of-the-season awards in last year’s campaign.

Bertrand played 47 games for Royals and quickly won over the fans with his consistent displays in defence.

The match-up of Bertrand versus Kebe could be key to where the game is won or lost on Saturday.

Gibbs said: “Obviously we know all about Ryan. He was here last season and did very well for us.

“He’s a good player, but it will be an interesting battle between him and Jimmy.

“They’ve had a lot of training games against each other, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

“It’s not about those two individuals it’s about the team, but we’ll welcome Ryan back as he’s done very well for us.”

Bertrand always said that he would be open to returning to Reading on loan at the end of last season, but first he wanted to go back to Stamford Bridge and fight for a place in Carlo Ancelotti’s first-team squad.

However, after spending pre-season training with the Blues, the 21-year-old was allowed to go back out on loan by his manager.

And in that space of time, Royals had already snapped up Marcus Williams on a free from Scunthorpe United.

And Gibbs explained: “The way I understood it was that at the end of the season Ryan would always go back to Chelsea.

“He always fancied his chances to push Ashley Cole, but for whatever reason it didn’t happen and we weren’t sure whether we should get him out on loan.

“We obviously knew that leftback position was a problem for us and we made the move. We’re more than happy with bringing Marcus in.”

Having spent big over the last two season’s Forest remain one of the contenders for the Championship title.

However, Davies’ side have started slowly with an opening day defeat away to Burnley, followed by a tight 1-1 draw with Leeds United at Elland Road on Sunday.

But Gibbs knows better than to underestimate the threat Forest can pose on their day.

“It will be a very tough game,” continued Gibbs

“They’ll be up there without a doubt come the end of the season. They’ve got a very good squad, you just have to look at them on paper.

“It’s going to be a tough game. Forest are a hard working side with Billy Davis in charge.

“They’ve got a bit of quality and a bit of pace. So it will definitely be a tough game, but we’re looking forward to it.”

And Gibbs added that you still can’t read too much into any results in the Championship with the league being as wide open as ever.

“There are no easy games – it’s that old cliché,” added former Watford right-back Gibbs.

“I’m sure for fans at every club it’s going to be an exciting season because you’ve seen the results on the first day.

“There were quite a few upsets and then it was the same last week, so you know its very difficult to predict the results.

“It’s just a case of being consistent and that’s the key to any season really.

“Obviously win your home games, get points away on the road and then you’re always in with a chance.”